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Italian PM Matteo Renzi has led calls for more European Union action on sea migration after the latest deadly capsize of a boat in the Mediterranean. The 20m (70ft) long boat that capsized this weekend was believed to be carrying up to 700 migrants, and only 28 survivors have been rescued. EU foreign ministers are expected to address the issue at a meeting later. Human smugglers are taking advantage of the political crisis in Libya to use it as a launching point for boats carrying migrants who are fleeing violence or economic hardship in Africa and the Middle East. Up to 1,500 migrants are now feared to have drowned this year alone. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the latest sinking could amount to the largest loss of life during a migrant crossing to Europe. The EU had been accused of being too slow to react to the growing humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean. Now it is scrambling to respond. A routine foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg will be focused on the rising death toll. There is talk of a possible emergency summit of EU leaders by the end of the week. Governments across Europe have expressed dismay at Sunday's huge loss of life. But while the EU talks, the Mediterranean is turning into a graveyard. The crisis highlights a fundamental weakness in the EU. Managing the situation requires political will, co-ordination and money from all the bloc's 28 countries. The EU has been criticised for its policy since the rescue operation, Mare Nostrum, was ended last year. Some EU members said they could not afford it and expressed concerns that it was encouraging more migrants. It now runs a more limited border control operation called Triton. A spokesperson for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the deaths were an "urgent reminder of the critical need for a robust search and rescue capacity in the Mediterranean". The international community had a duty to ensure the right to asylum for those fleeing war in search of safety, he added. One survivor in the Cannizzaro hospital in Catania, Sicily, said there were as many as 950 people on board, although this has not been verified. He said many were locked below decks and not allowed to leave. The UNHCR said that migrant boats had carried 13,500 people into Italian waters last week alone.
Keywords
Migrant, boat, shipwreck, EU, Mediterranean, deaths
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